Many years ago a man called Abu Ras was the guardian of a souk. He was very gruesome and people were scared of him. He had a big head, a donkey’s leg and a lion’s paw. He hid from people because he was embarrassed by his ugliness.
One day, as Abu Ras was watching the souk, he noticed a large brown falcon with a long nose taking a piece of barley. When Abu Ras followed the falcon all the way into the desert, the falcon slowly turned to Abu Ras, “What do you want from me?”
Abu Ras replied, “I want to know why you are taking the barley every day.”
In reply the falcon said, “If you really want to know, meet me here in one month.”
With a stern face, Abu Ras said, “I will, and if I am not convinced you are doing good, I will punish you.”
After one month, Abu Ras went to the same place and was shocked to see a green desert with colorful flowers and birds singing magical songs. The desert even had a beautiful, sweet smell. Upon seeing this, he said to the falcon, “How did you do this?”
The falcon replied, “These are from the barley seeds I took from the souk.”
After that, Abu Ras sat with the falcon and told him how he felt about his ugliness. Then the falcon asked him to bring one barley seed to him the next day.
The following day, Abu Ras brought a barley seed and the falcon dug a hole. The falcon asked Abu Ras to put the seed in the hole while saying “Bism Allah.” Suddenly, Abu Ras started to change and became very handsome. He thanked the falcon and went to the village, excited to show the people his beautiful face. When they saw him, they didn’t recognize him and were surprised by how handsome he was.
After a few days, he got married and lived happily together with his bride. He never forgot what the falcon did for him, and they became best friends.
by Yasra Abduqader Hussein Al Masaabi
ILLUSTRATOR: Noora Abdulrahman Abdulla Abdulrahman Al Shaikh
